


A Poem for Small Things

by Serendipitousfanfics



Series: In Love With the Little Things [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Healing, Song: Boy with Luv (BTS)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29963754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serendipitousfanfics/pseuds/Serendipitousfanfics
Summary: After leaving a toxic relationship, Y/N is ready to put the past behind her and start healing. After meeting a cute sushi delivery boy named Yuta, Y/N is worried about  jumping too quickly into a new relationship. However, Yuta slowly wins her heart and shows her that love is all about the small things.Inspired by Boy With Love by BTS
Relationships: Nakamoto Yuta/Reader
Series: In Love With the Little Things [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2203866
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

Too lazy and tired to cook, you had ordered takeout from your favorite Japanese restaurant, Sake. The restaurant itself still brought up a lot of bitter memories of your ex-boyfriend Johnny, so you have kind of been avoiding it after the break up. But tonight you were craving their sushi. Unable to resist any longer, you had ordered takeout.

The doorbell rang.

“Coming!” You yelled. Pausing the TV, you raced to the door.

When you opened the door you were surprised to see a familiar face holding your bag of takeout. Yuta, the waiter who had made sure you were okay when your now ex-boyfriend didn’t show up for your date, was standing outside your apartment.

“Here you go.” Yuta handed you the bag of food. Looking up, he smiled brightly when he recognized you. “Y/N.”

“Yuta, hi. I didn’t know you were a delivery boy too.” You could feel your face heating up. Was he always this cute?

“Yeah, my parents own the restaurant, so I help out wherever they need me. I guess I do a little bit of everything now. I prepare food, wait tables, and now I even run deliveries too.”

“Wow, you’re a true renaissance man,” you joked awkwardly.

There was a pause where neither of you quite knew what to say.

He scratched the back of his neck. “How–how are you? I haven’t really seen you since your boyfriend…” Yuta trailed off, referring to when he had to basically escort your now ex-boyfriend out of the restaurant.

“We broke up, but I’m doing a lot better now.” You played with the sleeve of your shirt before looking back up at him and flashing a half-hearted smile.

The first few weeks after your breakup with Johnny were hard. There was a lot of crying. But now you were on the road to getting over him. He didn’t consume your every thought anymore. In fact, he barely crossed your mind nowadays.

You noticed Yuta lingering slightly and felt like you were forgetting something.

“Oh! Let me get the money and your tip. Here you can step inside for a minute while I go grab some cash.” You set the food down on the table and ran to get your wallet.

You handed him several bills. His eyes widened in shock when he saw how much you gave him. Yuta tried to hand the money back but you wouldn’t take it.

“Woah, this is a lot. I can’t accept this.”

“Keep it. I don’t think I ever thanked you. For the food and for cheering me up that day. It was really nice of you and you didn’t have to do that.”

Yuta shrugged nonchalantly. “You just looked like you needed a friend.”

“Well thank you. I mean it.”

“You’re welcome. If you ever need a friend again, I’m here. I’ll see you around, okay?” Yuta pocketed the money and waved before disappearing down the hallway of your apartment building.

Sake became your most frequently visited restaurant over the next few weeks. You always ordered takeout from them, hoping that a particular delivery boy might stop by.

\- - -

“Hey Yuta. Hi there Yuta. Yuta, hey. How ya been?” You turned away from the mirror and sighed. “God I sound so stupid.”

You ran your hands through your hair. “Why is it so hard to just ask a boy to hang out? I can’t just walk up and say ‘hey, let’s hang out.’ Can I? Isn’t that too straightforward? Or would he rather I just be straightforward?”

The doorbell rang, interrupting your spiraling train of thought. 

“I’m not ready! What do I say?”

There was a knock on the door. 

You raced to the door and opened it. As always, there was Yuta holding your takeout looking cute as ever. How did he always manage to look so cute?

“Hi.”

“Hey Y/N, I have your usual.”

“Thanks.” You handed him the money and took the food from him. “Busy night?”

“It’s not too bad. Seeing you always makes my day better.” Yuta never failed to make you a blushing mess.

“Nah, you probably just think I’m super lazy for ordering takeout all of the time.”

“Well we do have the best food in town so I don’t blame you. I might be a little biased since it’s my mom’s cooking, but still.”

“So you must know all the family secrets then as to why it’s so delicious. Care to share them with me?”

“No can do. I have sworn myself to secrecy. Besides, if I told you the secret then you’d have no reason to order from my restaurant anymore and I wouldn’t get to see you as often.”

“Hmm, we’ll see about that. I’ll get the secret out of you somehow.”

“I’m not that easy to crack. You’d have to marry me to learn the secret.”

“Maybe I will,” you fired back with a smile.

When did talking to Yuta become so easy? It suddenly felt like you’d been friends for years instead of barely knowing each other.

His phone buzzed, pulling both of you out of the moment. “Well I gotta go make a couple more deliveries.” Yuta started to turn away when you remembered your mission for tonight: ask Yuta to hang out.

“Wait! Do you wanna hang out sometime? Just as friends you know. But still would you want to?” You rambled. 

“I’d love to. I’m not working Saturday.”

“Saturday works for me.”

“Perfect.” He pulled out his phone and handed it to you to enter your number. “I’ll text you then.”

Yuta gave you a small wave before he left.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Saturday morning you woke up to a text from Yuta. 

Yuta: Hey Y/N. It’s Yuta :)

Yuta: I’m on my way.

Yuta knocked on the door. Grabbing your things, you locked the door behind you.

“So, what do you want to do today?” you asked.

“Hmm, I think I have the perfect idea. Come on.” Yuta grabbed your hand and lead you down the street.

“Where are we going?” You asked.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Ooh a surprise huh?”

“Yeah, we’re almost there. Close your eyes.” Yuta held your hand and guided you for a few more steps.

Finally you stopped. Yuta put his hands over your eyes. “Okay, ready? Three… two… one.”

He removed his hands and you opened your eyes. You were standing at the entrance to the park. There was a playground off to one side and a walking trail that went around a pond. He raced you to the swings. You sat down and pushed off the ground, kicking your legs back and forth.

“I haven’t been to the park since I was a little kid,” you admitted.

Yuta grinned. “Then I was right and this was the perfect idea.”

The wind blew your hair around as you soared higher and higher. You couldn’t help but smile, just enjoying the moment. It had been so long since you’d done anything like this.

Looking over at Yuta, he was smiling as he looked back at you.

“Bet you I could jump farther than you,” he challenged.

“Oh you’re on. You’re looking at a champion here. I held the record in my elementary school.”

You swung back and forth, gaining more height as you went. Yuta jumped off first. Flying through the air, he managed to perfectly stick the landing a few yards away. He turned to smirk at you, challenging you to beat him.

“Think you can beat that?”

“Watch me.”

You jumped off. Soaring through the air, you landed much harder on the ground than you expected. The force of the impact left you off balance and you stumbled a step before falling to the ground.

Yuta was at your side in seconds, coming to your aid. “Are you okay?”

He held his hand out, helping you to stand up. 

“Ahh!” You cried out in pain. Your ankle was throbbing.

“Here. Lean on me.” Yuta wrapped your arm around his shoulders so that most of your weight was on him instead of your ankle. “Let’s go get some ice.”

You stopped in front of a bench to sit down and rest for a moment. “Just give me a second. I’ll be fine.”

Yuta bent down in front of you. “Let me carry you.”

“What? No. You don’t have to do that. I can walk.”

“Y/N. Let me carry you.”

“But–”

“I’m strong. I can carry you, so let me. That way you don’t have to walk on that leg and risk injuring it more.”

“Alright.”

You wrapped your arms around Yuta’s neck and your legs around his torso. Yuta held on to your legs to keep you from falling as he stood up.

“You still sure about this?”

“I’ve got you. Don’t I?”

Luckily Yuta’s restaurant wasn’t that far away from the park. Above the restaurant was the family’s apartment. He took you upstairs to the family kitchen and set you down on the counter. He scooped up some ice and wrapped it in a towel before handing it to you.

“I ruined our day, didn’t I?”

Yuta waved off your comment. “You didn’t ruin it. Trust me. It was my terrible idea anyway.”

He took the ice from you and lifted your ankle, inspecting it. “It doesn’t look too bad. Just a little swollen. Do you want any Advil or anything?”

You shook your head. “I’m okay.”

Yuta raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”

“Yes. I’m fine. I promise. It really doesn’t hurt that bad.”

He eyed you suspiciously but let it go. “Wanna watch a movie or something upstairs?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Moving to the couch, you sat down next to him and spent the rest of the day watching movies together, eating popcorn, and just enjoying each other’s company.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

One day you finally worked up the courage to actually go inside the restaurant instead of just ordering takeout. You and Yuta had hung out a few times so you were feeling less and less awkward around him each time. You were, dare you say it, becoming close friends.

Yuta spotted you right away. His whole face lit up with joy. “Y/N! You’re here.”

“Uh, yeah. Are you busy?”

“Nope, I was just about to eat dinner. Do you want your usual?”

You nodded.

“I’ll be right back. You can sit wherever you’d like.” You took a seat in the back of the restaurant, away from everyone else while Yuta disappeared into the back kitchen.

Yuta returned ten minutes later with food for the two of you. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” You immediately dug into the ramen bowl. You almost burnt your tongue as you slurped the noodles.

“Do you like roses?” He asked out of the blue.

“Yes,” you answered sheepishly, slightly surprised at the sudden change in topic.

“Good.” He nodded as if he were filing that information away for later.

“So do you have a favorite flower that I should know?”

“Tulips.” Yuta paused for a second then his eyes lit up with an idea. “Ooh, let’s play twenty questions. I’ll go first. What’s your favorite color?”

“Blue. What’s yours?”

“Umm. Guess.”

“That’s not part of the game,” you teased.

“Well I suggested the game so I get to change the rules however I want.”

You rolled your eyes.

“Go on. Guess.”

“Yellow.”

Yuta nodded.

“Wait, really? I got it right.” You did a little celebration dance. “I’m so good at this aren’t I? Alright, your turn.”

“Favorite sport?”

“Soccer.”

His face lit up. “Really? I love soccer. I used to play on the school team.”

“No way. Really? Me too! What position?”

“Striker. You?”

“Defender. Dream job?”

“I actually wanted to play soccer professionally for a while. What about you?”

“I want to be a social worker.” You looked down at your bowl, then quickly back up at him to gauge his reaction. Some people thought you were silly for wanting to be a social worker. There wasn’t a lot of money in it, but that didn’t matter to you. You just wanted to help people.

Yuta leaned forward on the table. “Why do you wanna be a social worker?” He actually sounded interested in hearing your answer and wasn’t just asking out of courtesy.

“Hey, it’s my turn to ask a question.”

“But it’s my game. I make the rules,” Yuta reminded you.

“Well that’s no fair.”

“Alright, if you insist. Ask away.”

“Favorite hobby?”

“Reading comics,” he replied shyly.

You both kept going back and forth, asking each other random questions about whatever came to mind. The more you talked, the more you realized how much you have in common.

The entire time you talked, Yuta’s attention was on you one hundred percent of the time. He was so genuinely interested in learning everything about you. And not just your big hopes and dreams and what you are passionate about. He even cared about learning all of the small things.

“Favorite type of cookie?” Yuta asked.

“Oh easily snickerdoodles all the way.”

“What? Mint chocolate chip is obviously the best!”

You shook your head. “You must’ve never had my snickerdoodle cookies. They are  _ clearly _ the superior cookie.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“You may be the better chef between the two of us, but I am definitely the better baker,” you countered.

“Alrighty then, I challenge you to a bake-off. Whoever wins gets the title of superior baker and bragging rights for all of eternity.”

“You’re on. Just name a time and a place.”

“How about right now?”

You bit your lip. “Don’t you have to get back to work soon?”

“Ooh, are you chickening out? Scared that I’ll beat you and win the title.”

“I’m not scared. I just don’t want to beat you on some technicality like you leaving to go back to work.”

Yuta looked around the restaurant. “They’ll be okay without me. The dinner rush is over now anyway.”

“Alright. Let’s do this then.”

Cleaning up the bowls from your dinner, you and Yuta then raced upstairs to start baking.


	4. Chapter 4

It didn’t take long for Yuta’s kitchen to turn into a disaster zone. There was barely any counter space left since you had pulled out all sorts of ingredients to each make your own cookies. The counter top had a thin dusting of flour coating it. Mixing bowls and utensils were piled high in the sink.

“Hey give that back!” you called. Yuta smirked as he went back to his bowl to mix the dry ingredients together with the whisk he had just stolen from you.

“I need it though.”

“I was using it! Go find yourself another whisk.” You tried to grab it out of his hands, but he spun away from you and out of reach.

“Nah, I think I’ll keep this one.”

Groaning you searched through the drawers to find another one. When you turned around with another whisk, you saw Yuta with his hand raised to pour something in your dough.

“Hey! Go away.” You shrieked. Jumping in front of your mixing bowl, your body acted as a shield against Yuta.

“Oh come on. Everybody loves paprika!” He tried to reach around you and pour it in, but you blocked him.

“Not in cookies!”

“Have you even tried it?”

“No because it doesn’t belong in cookies.”

“You just gotta give it a chance.” He smirked mischievously before making one more daring attempt to add paprika. You knocked the spice out of his hand. It tumbled to the ground.

You beamed proudly, having successfully saved your dough. “You’re just scared my cookies are gonna be better than yours. That’s why you keep trying to sabotage me, isn’t it?”

Yuta scoffed. “We both know who the better chef is here.”

You rolled your eyes. “Yeah, alright. We’ll see.”

You both went back to your own dough, calling it a temporary truce for now. You were just biding your time until you could get him back though.

The spice rack was still on the counter, just waiting for you to take something. Yuta had his back to you while he was cleaning up some of the bowls. His dough was completely unguarded. You saw your opportunity. You grabbed the first spice you saw and unscrewed the cap.

“Whatcha got there?” Yuta questioned, grabbing your wrist. You were seconds away from pouring crushed red pepper flakes into his cookie dough.

“Nothing.” You stepped back until your back hit the counter. Still holding your wrist with one hand, he grabbed the spice with the other.

“Hmm, really? Because it looks like you were trying to add this to my cookies without me noticing.”

“You tried to sabotage me first!” You shot back.

“Tsk, tsk. I expected better from you Y/N.” Yuta leaned in close. His face was inches from your own. You were trapped between him and the counter. Your heart was pounding in your chest from the proximity. 

The corners of his lips turned up in a grin as if he knew exactly what effect he was having on you. He looked down at your lips and then quickly back up at your eyes. 

_ Was he leaning in closer? Is he gonna kiss me? Does he like me? _ The thoughts swirled around in your head, making you dizzy.

The paprika suddenly clattered to the floor. The sound broke the connection and Yuta took a step back. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

Yuta picked the spice up and put it back with the others before finishing cleaning the bowls.

You had finished mixing all the ingredients together and started rolling your dough into balls. Yuta kept looking up at you as you worked.

“You’ve got a little something on your face,” Yuta said. 

“Really? Where?” Your face started to heat up with embarrassment. You started to rub your face, spreading the flour even more.

Yuta giggled. With one hand he reached out and wiped your face with a rag, but with the other he dumped a handful of flour on your head.

“Yuta!” You brushed the flour out of your hair, effectively spreading it all over your face and clothes. “You’re gonna pay for that.”

Grabbing the bag of flour, you ran after him. Yuta quickly raced around the other side of the kitchen island to stay out of reach. 

Taking a handful of flour, you threw it at him. It hit directly on his face, covering him in the white powder.

“Ooh, you’re gonna regret that.” Yuta took the other bag of flour and charged after you. He missed a few times, hitting the side of your face or just getting it on your clothes. 

As you were running away from him, you slipped on the flour that had gotten all over the floor. You closed your eyes and waited for the harsh pain of you hitting the floor, but it never came.

Opening your eyes, Yuta smiled back at you. His arms were wrapped tightly around your waist to keep you from falling.

You could feel your face heating up once more as you two were again super close. He started to lean in again.

_ Oh god, he’s really gonna kiss me this time. _ You thought.

But instead of feeling his lips against your own, you felt a handful of flour fall directly on your face.

“Gotcha,” Yuta said childishly. He set you back on your feet and quickly dashed away before you could retaliate.

“Alright, alright. I surrender. Truce?”

You eyed him carefully. “Promise?”

“I promise. No more tricks. No more flour. See?” He held up his hands in surrender. You shook hands to seal the truce.

After rolling all of the dough into little balls, you placed each cookie onto a baking sheet. Setting a timer, you and Yuta watched TV while waiting for the cookies to finish baking.

After what felt like forever, the timer beeped. You and Yuta raced back into the kitchen. Putting on oven mitts, Yuta took out the trays of cookies and set them on the stove to cool off.

“Mine first!” 

Yuta held out one of his mint chocolate chip cookies for you to try. It melted in your mouth. It was beyond delicious. It wasn’t too soft or too chewy. It was the perfect cookie.

“Not bad,” you replied, smirking.

“Not bad? You must be crazy because these are amazing.”

“Well try one of my cookies then.” You held out one of your snickerdoodle cookies. 

“Ehh, it’s okay,” Yuta teased.

“Ugh, how are we going to decide who wins? We need an unbiased third opinion.”

Just then the front door opened and Yuta’s mom walked in. “Ooh, we’ll ask my mom.”

“That’s not fair! She’s obviously gonna pick you because you’re her son.”

“Well too bad, she’s the only one around.” Yuta’s mom walked into the kitchen. “Mom! We need you to try these cookies and decide which is better.”

“Who is this?” She asked.

“This is my friend Y/N. Y/N, this is my mom.”

“Hello,” you greeted.

“So, whose are better?” Yuta asked expectantly.

She thought for a moment, still chewing. “Y/N’s.”

“Yes!” You cheered.

“But mom! I’m your son! You were supposed to pick mine,” Yuta whined.

Mrs. Nakamoto shrugged. “Sorry hun, hers were better. Hands down. Don’t forget to clean up the kitchen.” She walked to her bedroom and closed the door.

“Looks like I am the superior baker.”

“I want a rematch.” Yuta pouted, crossing his arms.

“Nope. You said whoever wins gets the title and bragging rights for all eternity.”

“But Y/N!”

“Ah ah.” You shook your finger. “That is Y/N the superior baker to you.”

“My apologies, your highness.” Yuta bowed deeply, making you laugh. “Would you be ever so kind as to assist me in cleaning the royal kitchen.”

“Hmm, that doesn’t sound like a job fit for the queen of baking, but I’ll allow it. Your wish shall be granted.”

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

It was the end of the night and Yuta, being the gentleman that he is, had offered to walk you home. You finally stopped in front of your apartment. Both of you seemed to hesitate. You didn’t want to go inside and end the night. You kind of wished you could just keep talking forever.

“Do you wanna go out with me?” Yuta asked, breaking the silence. “Like on a real date?”

You tensed up. Images of your last date flashed through your mind. You blinked a few times, trying to shake away the bad memories. 

Immediately, Yuta realized he’d said the wrong thing.

You knew Yuta was coming from a good place, but he’d just poured salt into a wound that wasn’t fully healed yet. Johnny was no longer a constant thought swirling in your head, but it still hurt to think about how badly he’d hurt you.

“Uh, you know what? Forget I just said that. Sorry.” Under his breath he whispered, “God, I’m such an idiot.”

Yuta started to turn away, but you reached out and grabbed his arm.

“No Yuta, wait!” You took a deep breath. “I just… after Johnny, I don’t–”

The words tumbled out of your mouth. You didn’t really know what to say. You felt so weak for admitting Johnny had left you scarred. But it was true and you couldn’t ignore the pain.

Yuta gave you a small smile.

“It’s okay. You’re not ready and I pushed you too soon. It’s fine. I understand.” Yuta held his hands up in surrender. His voice was calm and understanding, without a hint of judgement.

“But I want to. I really do. I’m just… scared.” Your voice came out as barely a whisper on the last word. 

You paused, gathering some courage. “Earlier today, were you gonna kiss me?”

“Yes. I thought about it.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I wasn’t sure if you were ready for that, if that was something you wanted. Is it?”

You hesitated. 

“It’s okay if you aren’t. What if we take it slow then? We won’t do anything that you aren’t one hundred percent comfortable with. We’ll take it step by step and go at whatever pace you want.”

You bit your lip. _Could you trust him?_ Johnny used to say things like that but he never really _meant it_. He always somehow managed to get what he wanted in the end. What if Yuta isn’t any different? What if you fall for him too and get trapped in another toxic relationship?

But Yuta wasn’t like Johnny. He’d already proved that several times.

“I’d like that a lot,” you answered.

“Yes!” Yuta cheered. He did a little celebratory dance, which made you laugh.

Yuta enveloped you in a hug.

“Okay, well I’ll see you later then? Yes? I’ll text you!” Yuta was still bursting with energy. You couldn’t help but let out a small giggle.

“Okay, bye Yuta!” 

“Bye Y/N!” 

You gave him a little wave, before heading inside. 

**YUTA**

Yuta: Are you free tomorrow?

Y/N: I have work in the morning but I’m free after that.

Yuta: Perfect. I’ll pick you up at 5 tomorrow then.

Y/N: Where are we going?

Yuta: It’s a surprise cutie :)

**YUTA**

[Next day]

Yuta: On my way

Yuta: Be there in five minutes

Yuta: Here! Open the door pls

Hearing a knock on your door, you quickly finished putting on your mascara before opening the door. Yuta grinned, holding a small bouquet of roses. You gasped in surprise, taking the flowers from him.

“Oh wow. Thank you! Let me put these in a vase.” After filling the vase with water, you put the flowers. Grabbing your purse, you followed Yuta out to his car. 

Yuta opened the car door for you. Getting in, you buckled your seatbelt and Yuta gets in on the driver’s side.

“So, what are we gonna do today?” You asked.

“It’s a surprise, remember?”

“Ugh, can you please just tell me? I’m too impatient for surprises.”

“You’ll like this one. Trust me.” He grinned cheekily, not giving in.

You started to guess where he was taking you based on the turns he was making. Finally he stopped at a forest preserve. You spent the day hiking together and enjoying each other's company. Yuta kept stopping to smell the flowers and take cute pictures with you.

\- - -

At the end of the day, Yuta pulled up to your apartment and put the car in park.

You unbuckled your seatbelt, but didn’t get out of the car just yet. A silence fell over the two of you. Your date had gone so perfectly, you didn’t want it to end.

You looked over at Yuta who was staring back at you. He smiled, making you grin.

Slowly, Yuta leaned in. Your heart pounded as you leaned in. Your lips were inches from his. He looked to you for reassurance. You nodded. Yuta leaned in further, closing the distance between you two. You could feel the corners of his lips turn up into a smile.

The kiss was slow and passionate. He cupped your cheeks in his palms. 

You both pulled away. It was quiet except for the sound of your heavy breathing.

“Thank you for today,” you said. “I had a lot of fun.” Grabbing your purse, you opened the car door.

“Goodnight Y/N!” Yuta shouted.

“Goodnight Yuta. See you later.” You waved before heading inside your apartment building. Yuta waited out front until you got inside before pulling away from the curb.

You smiled to yourself. You couldn’t stop smiling as you replayed the kiss over and over again in your head.

There was a spark between you two. 

_ The  _ spark. 

The spark  _ everyone  _ talked about. All those people in love in movies and TV shows always went on and on about feeling a spark, a true connection, when they kissed the love of their life. You thought it was just Hollywood nonsense, but it was real. You could feel it when you kissed Yuta.

_ Today was magical _ , you thought.  _ Straight out of a storybook. _

Curling up in your bed, you fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of you and Yuta.

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

It was a beautiful day out so you and Yuta had decided to go to the local Farmer’s Market. Yuta was buying some vegetables so that the two of you can make dinner together tonight. 

You thought you heard that familiar voice. Spinning around, you saw him watching you and Yuta a few stalls away. You tried to turn away quickly, but your eyes met. He definitely saw you and now he was walking towards you.

“Shit,” you muttered under your breath.

“What happened?” Yuta turned away from the fruit stall.

You tried to hide your face from Johnny, hoping he would just leave you alone.

“Umm, it’s nothing.” You looked over your shoulder quickly. Johnny was making his way towards you. “Can we go now?” You tugged on his sleeve, pulling him away from the stall. Yuta handed the stall owner the money, taking the bag of vegetables.

“Y/N, what’s wrong?” Yuta stopped you, noticing the growing fear in your voice. You could barely look him in the eyes. You were so focused on leaving, on being anywhere but here.

Johnny was barely 10 feet away now.

“Let’s just go.” You pulled on Yuta’s arm once more.

Just as you finally got Yuta to follow you, Johnny stopped right in front of you to block your path. You tried to sidestep Johnny, but he mirrored your movements. 

“Y/N,” Johnny greeted, sneering. Yuta’s eyes widened in recognition.

“Can you please just leave me alone?”

As you turned around to walk the other way, Johnny grabbed your wrist.

“Hey, let her go!” Yuta demanded, grabbing Johnny’s wrist and forcing him to let go of you.

“What do you want Johnny?” you asked.

Ignoring your comment, Johnny sized Yuta up. “You were in the restaurant that day. You’re that waiter boy.” Johnny turned back to you. “So what? You just moved on to whoever was nearby?”

“You don’t get to judge me or my decisions. You don’t know the hell you put me through.” The initial shock of seeing him after the breakup was starting to wear off.

After the breakup, you had called your mom crying. You were such a mess but her voice was calm and soothing through it all. Even though she was back in your hometown while you were here in the city, it felt like she was right there comforting you. 

“It’s easy to say you’re over someone if you don’t see them anymore,” your mom had said. “The challenge is to look them in the eyes and see their smile and hear their voice and still be able to say, ‘this is not what I want anymore.’ You’ll get there someday sweetie. It just takes time.”

You were so worried that you would want him back when you saw him for the first time. That you would go crawling back to the familiarity of Johnny despite knowing you were better off without him.

But your mom was right. With time you had healed. Seeing him in front of you now, you felt fine. His charming smile didn’t trick you anymore. Your heart didn’t ache anymore. You stood confidently next to Yuta and looked into Johnny’s eyes without flinching.

“Look how quickly you moved on,” Johnny spat. 

“Looks like you really haven’t,” you shot back. “You’re still just as insecure as you were before.”

Seeing as he wasn’t getting much more of a reaction from you, he turned his attention to Yuta. “You know Y/N was always an easy lay. All you have to do is say you’ll be the one to stay and she’ll do  _ whatever _ you want. She’s that desperate for affection.”

You flinched slightly at his words. 

Yuta lunged towards Johnny, but you pulled him back.

You shook your head. “He’s not worth it.” Yuta nodded in acknowledgement, but his shoulders were still tense.

You and Yuta started walking away when Johnny called out once more.

“He’s just going to leave you too!”

You spun around to confront him. “He’s nothing like you. You were the one who was too afraid to stick around.”

Johnny raised his hand as if he was going to hit you.

Yuta moved to stand protectively in front of you. You didn’t think Johnny would get violent, but now you weren’t so sure. It seemed he had changed a lot since your breakup. You guessed you had too in a way.

“It was nice seeing you Johnny,” you said, actually meaning it. You had finally gotten the closure you needed. Even though the wounds he left may still be there, they were healing. You were ready to close this chapter in your life for good. 

Yuta glared at Johnny once more before following you out of the Farmers’ Market.


	7. Chapter 7

“You’re so cute when you’re half asleep like this,” Yuta said.

You could barely keep your eyes open. You rested your head in Yuta’s lap while he played with your hair. The TV was on in the background, playing some random movie you put on. You felt so comfortable and at ease just sitting here with him on the couch. It felt so natural being with Yuta. You two had been dating for about three months now. You were the happiest you had been in a long time.

“Do you… do you wanna stay the night?” The words almost caught in your throat as you said them. You hadn’t let anyone stay over since Johnny. You had shut yourself off from everyone.

But Yuta had changed everything. You were opening up again, ready to trust someone else.

Yuta nodded, smiling. “I’d love to.”

After changing into your pajamas, you both lay down on your bed under the covers.

At first you were hesitant to snuggle any closer to Yuta. You were terrified that he would wrap his arms around you and hold you tight only for you to wake up alone the next morning. But again you reminded yourself that Yuta was different. He was more than willing to sit back and let you determine the pacing of your relationship.

With that in mind, you snuggled closer and rested your head on his chest. His heart thumped steadily. It wasn’t long before you drifted off to sleep.

“Y/N, are you awake?” Yuta whispered.

You didn’t say anything, still fast asleep.

“I think I might be falling in love with you.”

When you opened your eyes the next morning, Yuta was lying next to you still asleep. His arms were still wrapped around you, tightly as if he wanted to remind you that he was still there and you had nothing to worry about.

His eyes fluttered open and he smiled, seeing your face. “Good morning.”

“You’re still here.” Your fingers lightly traced imaginary lines on his chest. 

“Of course I am. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” Yuta kissed your forehead.

Your heart nearly melted. Whenever Johnny used to say things like this to you, you could tell that he didn’t really mean it, but Yuta’s eyes showed his sincerity. His actions reinforced all of the promises he has made and kept.

“I would’ve had breakfast ready but you were sleeping on my arm and I didn’t want to wake you. Wanna make breakfast together?” He asked.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to go home or to work or anything?” You hated how insecure you sounded as the words spilled out of your mouth but you couldn’t help yourself. 

“Nope. My shift isn’t until later, so for now I’m all yours.” He leaned over kissing you again, this time on your lips.

With that all of your insecurities started melting away. Yuta liked you for who you are. He didn’t want you to change. You were done comparing him to Johnny, ready to leave all that in the past where it belonged. You finally felt confident in your own skin. You were well on the path to loving yourself.

You kissed Yuta back, wrapping your arms around his neck as you deepened the kiss.

Your stomach growled, making Yuta laugh. “Come on, let’s go make pancakes.”


End file.
